Austin, TX – Geetesh Goyal, Co-Founder and CEO of Human Bees, recently spoke during the Inc. Founders House panel at South by Southwest. A mainstay event at SXSW, Inc. Founders House gives entrepreneurs the unique opportunity to share their experiences starting, running, and growing their businesses. Founders of all industries have been featured at the yearly event, which normally takes place not far from the Austin Convention Center.
“I was so honored to be up on stage and to share my experiences since founding Human Bees,” Goyal stated after the event. “Having the chance to talk about entrepreneurship with so many incredible founders was something I will never forget.”
Featured alongside Gail Becker, Founder and CEO of Caulipower, and Lora H. DiCarlo, Founder and CEO of Lora DiCarlo, Goyal was asked to give his thoughts on growth.
“I see growth as something that’s driven from within… It’s forward-thinking leadership,” he said. “Every segment and sector, to me, is almost irrelevant. [Human Bees] didn’t innovate or create anything new, and we’re the fastest-growing company in America. It’s not a specific market segment you need to be in… It’s about driving that growth initiative, that vision.”
In describing Human Bees as the fastest-growing in America, Goyal was referencing the 2021 Inc. 5000 in which the staffing company was ranked #1 with a three-year revenue growth of 48,345%.
Later, when discussing what surprised him about founding a company, Goyal joked, “It’s the lack of sleep… How you’re looking forward to having a lack of sleep. That was the coolest thing for me. I didn’t want to do anything else. It was so exhilarating. Initially, you get kicked in the teeth and it’s tough, but you keep getting up and as soon as you get in your groove, then it just gets so fun.”
As the panel came to a close, Goyal was asked at what point he realized he was running what would become a $100 million company and the fastest growing company in America.
“For me, it was having that core of 5-10 people [that set the foundation],” Goyal asserted. “I’ve been an entrepreneur for 12 years, and that was when the code was cracked—finding those 10 people. [With past teams], there was nothing bad, there was nothing wrong, but their vision was not aligned. If people’s visions are not aligned with yours, you’re always going to end up hitting a brick wall. So, once we got [our team], held the line, and made sure our people saw our vision, it was game over.”